Silver Screen Queens 168: Central Intelligence

Published 3 August 2016 • 38 minutes, 36 seconds

This has been out for a while, but in the midst of summer blockbuster season, we had missed it until now. The Rock continues his string of feel-good flicks, this time showing his comedy chops alongside Kevin Hart. Despite the wink wink nudge nudge tone of the marketing, the film is kind-hearted and open-minded, celebrating the victories of ordinary folk over their bullies. The Rock remains our fave, while Kevin Hart gets a couple of new fans.

Topical 73: Hackintoshes

Published 29 July 2016 • 22 minutes, 57 seconds

With Apple’s hardware in a state of stagnation, more and more people are revisiting the idea of the Hackintosh—custom-built PCs running OS X—which boast superior performance, but require additional maintenance and care. Russell’s a little scared that he’s missing out on the fun, so he and Jelly discuss what building one entails, whether it’s really worth it, and whether Apple cares about this resurgence.

Silver Screen Queens 167: Star Trek Beyond

Published 27 July 2016 • 41 minutes, 20 seconds

The JJ Abrams Star Trek reboot turned us both into Trekkies. So does the third film in the series, this time with Fast and Furious saviour Justin Lin at the helm, live up to the lens-flared glory?

Mobile Couch 88: My Stuff Always Goes Wrong

Published 25 July 2016 • 54 minutes, 40 seconds

Jelly’s had a bit of a computer disaster (which he totally got from Ben), so they talk a little bit about mitigating disasters as both users and developers. Then they cover off a little bit of follow-up about monetising Messages apps, before discussing the fun and horrors of migrating your codebase to iOS 10.

Topical 72: Pokémon Go

Published 22 July 2016 • 23 minutes, 11 seconds

Russell and Jelly discuss the social phenomenon that is Pokémon Go, an augmented reality game that has players everywhere going out into the world, collecting digital creatures and meeting real-life people. You’d be forgiven for thinking that this isn’t really that big a deal, but with so many stories of the community coming together, is there more to this game than just catching ‘em all?

Silver Screen Queens 166: Ghostbusters

Published 20 July 2016 • 48 minutes, 30 seconds

The Ghostbusters reboot we have been waiting for is here! SSQ fave Melissa McCarthy joins Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and breakout star Kate McKinnon in Paul Feig’s take on the classic franchise and it (oh thank goodness!) does not disappoint. Ghostbusters ever-so-gently resets the formula for summer blockbusters with humour, panache and fabulous outfits. In a classic case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, charm, laughs and a cast having the time of their lives (we see you trying not to crack up, Chris Hemsworth) ensure a fabulous cinematic experience, even as some storytelling snafus distract from the finale’s emotional weight.

Topical 71: Getting Things Done

Published 15 July 2016 • 17 minutes, 22 seconds

There’s a plethora of management tools and methods dedicated to getting things done, and so Russell and Jelly throw it all out the window to talk about how they approach the things they need to remember to do, appointments the have coming up, and bills they need to pay.

Silver Screen Queens 165: Everybody Wants Some!!

Published 13 July 2016 • 38 minutes, 21 seconds

Richard Linklater’s latest has been billed as ‘the spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused’. Starring former Glee-ster and Mr Supergirl, Blake Jenner, as a baseball-playing freshman, it’s a charming slice-of-life set over the weekend before the start of college. While this is not new territory for Linklater, and not without its downsides, it’s clear that he’s in the sweet spot of his wheelhouse, and these boys are a fun enough way to spend a couple of hours.

Mobile Couch 87: A Game of Strategy and Trust

Published 11 July 2016 • 41 minutes, 59 seconds

Since the announcement in the WWDC keynote, Ben has been working on a couple of Messages apps, so he and Jelly go through all the ins and outs. Together they look at the super-easy Sticker pack apps, the more complex implementation details for custom apps, and even a few gotchas you might run into while developing.

Topical 70: Hobbies

Published 8 July 2016 • 19 minutes, 3 seconds

Building Lego sets, reading books, and playing video games are hobbies that many people enjoy around the world, but exactly what people enjoy differs wildly from person to person. Russell and Jelly look at their own hobbies and consider some of the deeper questions about the things we love to do.